No more shackles for Jackson students

Misbehaving students will not be handcuffed to railings or poles at an alternative school in Jackson, Mississippi. In response to a lawsuit, the school district has agreed to stop shackling students at a school for suspended and expelled students.

. . . The lead plaintiff in the case was described in the suit as an unidentified eighth grade student with a history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, asthma and seizures.

On one occasion, when he was handcuffed to a pole for hours, he was forced to call out to ask to be taken to the bathroom, the lawsuit said.

The district agreed not to use handcuffs on students under 13 or to handcuff older students as punishment or for non-criminal conducts. That seems to leave the door open to some use of handcuffs.

Comments

Shackling students is pretty harsh, but that’s a pretty harsh school. Some of the older students, in particular, are actually quite dangerous. I suspect that’s why they insisted on being able to cuff them for criminal conduct – to detain them until police arrive.